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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Happy Wednesday...we are closer to the week-end, then to Monday!!! It has been a good week back! The kids for the most part have been well-behaved and we have been working hard and accomplishing a lot, which is nice!

In case you haven't heard...Teachers Pay Teachers is having a sale tomorrow and Friday! They have reached 3 million sellers!!! I started selling just over a year ago and have loved it! I am not the most profitable, but the money has come at just the right time! Some of my favorite products that I have made are...

This packet goes along with the book The Scrambled States of America. It includes map skills, writing prompts, capital and state quizzes and much more! This is one of my favorite books to read to my students!

This is my best selling packet! It was also one of my very first products! Students search around the room for addition problems and categorize them according to the correct addition property. I also have one for multiplication properties! So much fun!

This is my newest product and I am absolutely in love with it! There are 24 task cards with various money amounts. You can use them as task cards in a center or as a scavenger hunt or to play the game Scoot! They also have very cute monsters on them! Love, love, love!

These are just three of the products that will be on sale for the next few days. My entire store is 20% off and you can use the code TPT3 for an additional 10% off! This is a perfect time to clear off your wish lists!Some of the products that are already in my cart are...

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Happy Sunday! I have to go back to school tomorrow! Yes, I have been off for over a week due to snow days and winter break. It has been a wonderful relaxing time filled with nothing special! Sometimes, I enjoy that the most. I was able to hang out with some friends I hardly see and got to spend time with one of my sisters and my brother. I am ready to go back, but not ready! I do enjoy having the freedom to stay in my pjs most of the day and watch TV! Unfortunately, watching TV in my pjs will not pay my bills...so off to school I go tomorrow!!!

It's Sunday so that means one of my favorite linky parties with Collaboration Cuties! This week the theme is Social Studies. I know that presidents day was last week, but I wanted to link up this fun book I found on Abraham Lincoln. Looking at Lincoln is a great book that intertwines facts about Lincoln with the characters own opinions. The author evens uses different fonts to differentiate the facts and the character's opinions. This book could easily be used for a fact and opinion lesson.

Amazons description:Abraham Lincoln is one of the first giants of history children are introduced to, and now Maira Kalman brings him to life with her trademark style and enthusiasm. Lincoln's legacy is everywhere - there he is on your penny and five-dollar bill. And we are still the United States because Lincoln helped hold them together.

But who was he, really? The little girl in this book wants to find out. Among the many other things, she discovers our sixteenth president was a man who believed in freedom for all, had a dog named Fido, loved Mozart, apples, and his wife's vanilla cake, and kept his notes in his hat. From his boyhood in a log cabin to his famous presidency and untimely death, Kalman shares Lincoln's remarkable life with young readers in a fresh and exciting way.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Well, today was a much better day then yesterday! I woke up on the right side of the bed and was a much more pleasant person today! Today, I am linking up with my fellow New Yorker, Holly for her Tried It Tuesday. Skype is an awesome resource for talking to people through the computer. You can actually video chat and see the person face to face. Today, I used Skype in the classroom to talk to some family from the Netherlands!

This month is Multicultural month at my school. Each grade is assigned a country to study throughout the month. We have a multicultural tasting and assembly at the end of the month. This year our theme is Missions and what it is like to be a Missionary in that country. We were assigned The Netherlands (I actually begged to have that country because of some personal contacts I have there!).

I started our study by reading some books about The Netherlands and giving some background on the country. Students colored flags and maps of the country. I also read a few stories about missionaries in The Netherlands. Today, we took our study to a whole new level! We used Skype. My sister and her husband are missionaries in The Netherlands and we were able to Skype with them right in my classroom!

Chris on the big screen with the students listening.

I told the students last week about Rebecca and Chris and had them write questions they wanted to ask. The students came in all excited today because of our upcoming Skype session. They were counting down the minutes all day!! We were able to Skype with them at 2 pm eastern, which was 8 pm their time. I had both fifth grade classes, which is 29 students in my room. They had to make sure they were quiet during the session because Rebecca and Chris could hear everything. I asked Rebecca and Chris some questions that the students wrote down and then I invited students up to the ipad to ask additional questions. Rebecca and Chris could not see us unless you were standing in front of the ipad, but we could see them.

One of the students asking a question.

It was a neat experience for the students to have this interaction with people living in another country. The students also learned about missionary life and what it is like to be a missionary in The Netherlands. My students were amazed at the differences in the two countries. Some of the most shocking differences were:

- There are no mall in The Netherlands...there are shopping centers which are similar.

- When you go to the movie theater, there is a ten minute intermission in the middle of the movie.

- The Netherlands is famous for cheese, but you can not get Cheese-Its or Goldfish there.

It was a very successful Skype session with Rebecca and Chris. I have a feeling the students will remember this for years to come. The last thing I did was take the ipad off the projector and turn the camera to the back so Rebecca and Chris could see all of the kids. The students went wild and I had to stand on a table for all of the students to be in it!

A view from The Netherlands!

It was a very successful lesson! Tomorrow we create Delft paintings in our continuing study of The Netherlands!

Monday, February 10, 2014

Happy Monday! I have to admit my Monday has not been the best. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and have been stressed with all that is going on this week. I am trying to finish chapters before a week long break and put together a presentation for our Multicultural Celebration at the end of the week. I was not a happy camper for most of the day. I did cheer up a bit, but still stressed on how everything is going to fit! I am sure most of you can relate to the type of day I have had! But, God is good and he is in control of everything! I had to give my bad attitude to him this morning and ask that he would change my heart!

I am linking up with the fabulous Jess from I {Heart} Recess for her Mathematical Mondays. I have wanted to link up with her for a while, but have not had the chance!We have been working on fractions for the past couple of weeks and my students are loving them (not really). I have been trying different things to make them fun, including giving them homework that has a riddle to solve or using white boards to solve problems. I even helped some students by writing on their desks with dry erase markers. I am trying everything to make it fun and interesting!Today, we were working on adding fractions with different denominators. We went over the different steps of adding the fractions and completed some problems on the board and in our notebooks...then the fun came! I brought out white boards and playing cards. Each student got a white board and marker. I always let my students draw for one minute. This helps to prevent drawing when we are suppose to be working. If students are caught drawing, they receive paper and pencil to do their work on. I gave each student four playing cards. They had to arrange the cards into two different fractions. I tried to have them make fractions that were not improper. They then added the two fractions using their white boards. I did an example on the board for them to see what I was talking about.

They then went to work. Once the students finished with their cards, we passed the cards down our row. The students loved it! Sometimes just doing something different or adding white boards can make a boarding lesson more exciting!

I am now off to figure out how I am going to make math fun tomorrow!!! How do you make math fun?

Sunday, February 9, 2014

This post is going to be a short one because my bed time is fast approaching!! Jessica and I have a wonderful response to Our Favorite Things Giveaway! Thank you to all who entered...I was truly blessed by how many people entered and left comments. It truly blessed me! Now for the winners!!!!!

Again, thank you to all who entered and a special thank you to all who donated to our giveaway! I promise I will be back soon, with some fun stuff! Also, keep checking back because I love to give things away!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Happy Sunday! It is Superbowl Sunday and New York/New Jersey is going crazy! Luckily, I am far enough away from action to just enjoy it on TV! In honor of the Superbowl, my entire TpT store is on sale for 20% off through tomorrow! Pick up some fun products to use in your classroom!

Listening- Food Network...I love this channel it is the perfect channel to have on in the back round. Some of my favorite shows are Chopped, Pioneer Women and Cut Throat Kitchen.

Loving- This week-end my girls basketball team had their league basketball tournament. I am so proud of them! They not only took second place in the tournament after playing a nail biting championship game, they were voted the team with the most Christian Character. This award is just as big as winning first place! I am so proud of them!

My Winning Team!!!!

Megan receiving the 2nd place trophy.

Three of our girls made the all-star team!

Thinking- I have tons of work to do! Our marking period ended on Friday and all last week we were practicing for tournament and preparing because it was at my school. I am very behind on some grading and have to get report cards done in the next two days! I am praying for a few extra hours in the day and lots of motivation!

Wanting- The last few days have been long and intense. I just want to sit on the couch and do nothing, but I have tons of work to do so that is not really an option today!

Needing- Grade papers and do report cards...no explanation needed!

Two Truths- My basketball team took 2nd place at their tournament and I have run three half marathons.

One Fib- I have never been to the Olympics, but one day I would love to so...summer or winter I don't care!

Now for a giveaway!!!! Jessica from Joy in the Journey are having a Favorite Things Giveaway! We have tons of great prizes from 28 of our blogging buddies, plus boxes of our favorite things! Make sure you head over and enter!!!

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Today is a monumental event as my dear friend over at Joy in the Journey and I are hosting a

HUGE GIVEAWAY!

Jessica and I have hit some big blogging milestones, so we want to CELEBRATE!

To celebrate reaching these exciting milestones, Jessica and I are hosting a fun giveaway that says THANK-YOU to all of our lovely and loyal followers. We would love to show our appreciation by giving you a chance to WIN BIG!

There will be 6 WINNERS in this exciting giveaway! :)

First off, Jessica and I would both like to offer a box filled with our favorite treasures!

Then, we have 4 digital giveaways with favorite products that have been donated by our favorite blogging buddies!

Do you follow these amazing teachers?!? If you don't, stay tuned - we'll give you the chance to in just a second :)

About Me

My name is Rose and I am very new to all of this! I am a lover of the Lord, a daughter, sister and teacher. My life has been an adventure since I graduated college and I never know where the Lord is going to take me next. I hope I am able to share with you some of the ideas I use in the classroom. I hope you join me in this adventure!